A look at Purdue vs. Texas men's basketball on Dec. 9, 2018

Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Purdue Boilermakers come off the bench following a basket against the Texas Longhorns during the first half at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports John Gutierrez, John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

A look at Purdue vs. Texas men's basketball on Dec. 9, 2018

Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Purdue Boilermakers come off the bench following a basket against the Texas Longhorns during the first half at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports
John Gutierrez, John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

during the second half Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter talks to his team during a timeout against the Texas Longhorns at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports John Gutierrez, John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

A look at Purdue vs. Texas men's basketball on Dec. 9, 2018

during the second half Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter talks to his team during a timeout against the Texas Longhorns at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports
John Gutierrez, John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter disputes the call on the last play against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports John Gutierrez, John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

A look at Purdue vs. Texas men's basketball on Dec. 9, 2018

Dec 9, 2018; Austin, TX, USA; Purdue Boilermakers head coach Matt Painter disputes the call on the last play against the Texas Longhorns during the second half at Frank Erwin Center. Mandatory Credit: John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports
John Gutierrez, John Gutierrez-USA TODAY Sports

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AUSTIN, Texas — Purdue guard Carsen Edwards dazzled on his return to his home state of Texas on Sunday.

Even his 40-point effort, however, could not overcome the Boilermakers' other offensive struggles and the uncharacteristic shooting success of Texas. Matt Coleman scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half to lead the Longhorns to a 72-68 victory at the Erwin Center.

Edwards matched his previous career high, set last season at Illinois. He scored 28 of those points in the second half, making 15 of 26 shots overall and 7 of 13 from 3-point range. After a couple of tough shooting performances in a row, the preseason Big Ten Player of the Year carried the Boilermakers in long stretches as they attempted to pull ahead in the second half.

"I just wanted to win," Edwards said. "If I had had a bad performance and we had won, that would sit better with me."

Purdue coach Matt Painter took exception to a non-call when Aaron Wheeler dribbled the ball out of bounds with under five seconds to play. Painter felt the Texas player Wheeler made contact with was not in a legal guarding position and should have been called for a foul which would have sent Wheeler to the line down 70-68.

Instead, Purdue fouled Elijah Mitrou-Long at the other end, and he made two free throws to clinch it.

So guess which team suffered through a miserable perimeter shooting effort in the first half?

Purdue left Texas' Dylan Osetkowski all alone on the game's opening possession, and he hit an easy 3. Edwards responded on the other end to tie it. Then the Boilermakers missed their next 12 attempts behind the arc — finishing the first half 2 of 16, not including Nojel Eastern's desperation heave at the buzzer.

Texas, meanwhile, made 6 of 15 from five different players. Only once in its first eight games had it made even one-third of its 3-pointers. While Purdue wanted the Longhorns taking a lot of jump shots, even mediocre shooters could capitalize on some of the space allowed in the first half.

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The Boilermaker coach on defensive letdowns in Sunday's loss and another big game from Carsen Edwards.
Nathan Baird, jconline.com

"I didn't think we did a great job of keeping the ball out of the paint in the first half, and early in the second half we didn't either," Purdue coach Matt Painter said. "That really opens up a lot of things for them. They get some drives, get some layups, get some lobs, but it also gets them some 3s because you have to over-help to stop that."

Purdue turned the ball over only twice in the first half, compared to nine times for Texas. The Boilermakers simply couldn't hit enough shots to take advantage. The Longhorns led 36-31 at halftime. If Purdue had shot a terrible 25 percent from 3 instead of an abysmal 12.5 percent, it would have led at the break.

The Boilermakers shot at a more customary 43.8 percent clip after halftime. Texas continued to run offense deep into the shot clock and kept hitting with uncharacteristic accuracy. Coleman made 3 of 5, including a couple of big ones late.

"Some of them I feel like maybe we broke down on defense and they had a wide-open look," Edwards said. "At this level, a wide-open look, I'm pretty sure they'll make them."

Edwards opened the second half with a personal 7-0 run to push Purdue to a 38-36 lead and force a Texas timeout.

That, however, was the only real spurt the Boilermakers could put together for much of the second half. When those surges came, they typically came in the form of Edwards taking over the game for a stretch.

Texas led 55-49 before Edwards hit a 3 with about eight minutes to play. The Longhorns turned it over in transition, and Edwards picked up the loose ball and took it in for a layup. Soon after, when an Edwards pass was deflected back out to him, he calmly drained a deep 3 from the east-central portion of the map of Texas at midcourt.

Texas led 60-57 inside of five minutes. Thanks to two Grady Eifert rebounds, Purdue kept a possession alive long enough for Edwards to bury another game-tying 3.

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The senior guard scored seven points on 3 of 12 shooting and missed his first seven from 3-point range in the loss.
Nathan Baird, jconline.com

Matt Coleman's fantastic game for Texas included a 3 with 2:27 left for a 67-62 lead. Ryan Cline, who had been 0-for-7 from 3 and 0-for-13 going back to the start of the Maryland game, responded with his own 3 to keep it a one-possession game.

Coleman came back for a floater in the lane with 43.8 seconds left to make it a four-point game. Edwards scored his 40th point on a 3 at the top of the key with 32.9 left, cutting the Texas lead to 69-68.

But Texas closed both halves strong at the free throw line, hitting 7 of 8 in the final 3:33.

Carsen Edwards' homecoming game

Edwards was heard after Friday's practice asking his teammates if they had an extra tickets he could use for Sunday's game. The junior grew up about three hours north in the Houston suburb of Atascocita.

Edwards called it "just another game" to reporters, though he looked forward to seeing family and friends. Such opportunities are rare in-season, apart from maybe a quick trip over the holidays or the occasional parental visit to West Lafayette. His mother, Carla, was at the season opener against Fairfield last month.

Edwards received a warm ovation when announced, but so did the rest of the Boilermakers. The announced crowd of 10,048 included a decent percentage rooting for either Purdue or Edwards or both.